


Screw Chem

by MoonyMcMoon



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Father-Son Relationship, Original Character(s), homework struggles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:40:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24842416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonyMcMoon/pseuds/MoonyMcMoon
Summary: Father son drabble.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	Screw Chem

Daydreaming was often an issue with William. He was always thinking. Visually, audibly, he could even think in touch. Sometimes it was a drawing or painting he had in mind and it would plague his thoughts and attention until he could channel it out. Other times he’d have a certain collection of sounds in his head that he’d replay and write down repeatedly until he was home, and he could put it out on his guitar. Will gets in trouble every time, for not focusing, but he was always in a way creating in thought no matter what. This however was a struggle for his grades, which often Jonathan scolded him on.

William was in his side room of the older cabin hideout. He could faintly hear the shuffling around of Jon down in his basement lab thing. William mostly was not allowed down there, but it wasn’t a secret as to why. Will didn’t care for basements anyway, so it was a win-win. However, Will can’t focus on his homework. He hoped Jon would have been finished by now so he could finally come up and help him. William wasn’t allowed to interrupt his work, so he sat frustrated at the complex chemistry in front of him.

He could never understand why none of it made sense to him. He was much better at measuring and graphs but stuff like algebraic equations of chemistry was something he couldn’t calculate. Lack of visualization maybe? He hated significant figures the most, along with making chemical bonds. Jonathan of course was all over this stuff however, got excited even. Will had first expected Jon to be frustrated at his lack of comprehension like most of his teachers or foster parents but Jon was surprisingly patient, a lot more so.

William blinked realizing Jon was standing beside him at the desk. He lifted his head and looked at Jon who had a neutral look overall, but Will could see a question forming.

“Is your homework that boring?”

“Did I fall asleep?”

“I think so.”

“Oh.”

William sat straight grunting as his back popped. He looked back at his chemistry homework, full of writing and erase marks, maybe one or two tear stains from frustration. Jon looked over.

“Need help again?”

“Is it really help if in the end you have to tell me the same thing over and over again?”

Jon grabbed one of the folding chairs leaning against the wall and opened it and sat beside William.

“It’ll click”

“You said that last month when I was learning Acid-Bases. It took me ‘til the end of the subject to figure it out and then I felt stupid for not seeing it sooner and it was a lot simpler of a topic.”

“You’re not stupid, sometimes overthinking minds overlook the simpler things in a problem”

“Says the mad scientist!”

“Mad-? Whatever, look, lets go over this again. Maybe I can find a visual for you to use.”

William struggled to pay attention to what Jon was saying, but he was trying. Then he’d mentally yell at himself for realizing he was focusing too hard on focusing and thus missed half of what Jon explained to him. Jon was also trying his best as to figure out a way to express the explanation best visually, for something that didn’t quite equate visually. When Jon looked to ask William if he understood, William’s face told him all. The pure concern and scrunched up confused look as he seemingly did not understand any of what he had explained or perhaps may have been too overwhelming.

“Why don’t we take a break?” Jon offered and stood up, William frowning but following him out to the more or less barren kitchen.

“Uh…I could go grab-”

“If you say McDonalds…” William warned, “I will go find Batman.”

William leaned against the counter with a sigh, slumping his shoulders.

“Sir, am I stupid? Be honest.”

“What? No, you’re not stupid”

“I said be honest.”

“I am.”

Jon turned and faced the boy folding his arms, brow now more scrunched in minor concern.

“Listen each person lacks in certain subjects; some people just don’t click it with chemistry or-”

“Unless you're Mr. Nygma.”

“Edward doesn’t count.”

“You’re super smart! You seem to be good at all the subject”

“To be fair I was never quite the best at geometry or complex physics, which seem to be more your thing. All in all, schools I think overestimate how much kids retain anyway it’s not all- Will?”

He couldn’t help the tears, really. It was all just so frustrating and overwhelming. He always had issues with school, even when he tried everything in his power, asking for help find ways to just keep passing so he could graduate. Teachers and tutors got frustrated with him, he even thought Jon considered him a lost cause.

Jon rather uncomfortable and unsure of what to do tried to come up with some sort of response that could equate to comfort. He walked to William and leaned to his level some.

“Hey, listen, how about this as a little compromise hm?”

William sniffed and met his eyes.

“Now never in my life would I do this again, but I’ll do your homework for the night, and we go the Iceberg Lounge and eat. Oswald owes me a free meal anyway so you can order anything you’d like. Does that sound good?”

“You d-don’t seem like the person to do someone’s homework freely.”

“Consider it a special case, I see how hard you’ve been trying.”

“So, what do I have to do in return?”

“hmm, watch a slasher film? You said the previews of Nightmare on Elm Street gave you nightmares before you ever watched the movie?”

“How can you be nice and yet so incredibly sadistic all at once”

“Usually, I don’t hear about how nice I am.”

William wiped his eyes with his sleeve and smiled. “Alright, the deal sounds good, though it seems to be more in my favor by the sounds of it”

“Don’t get so confident, I’m feeling a little generous today” Jon stated standing straight again and turning to grab his coat.

“come on.”


End file.
